How to get rid of termites with vinegar?

If a homeowner suspects that some termite species are living and breeding on the property, it is a serious problem. The best solution in this case is to call a qualified termite exterminator for inspection and treatment. If there is no opportunity to hire a pest control professional, the most homeowners tend to get rid of termites on their own. One of the well-known home remedies is to kill termites with vinegar.

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Surely, you keep some type of vinegar on the kitchen shelf and use it for cooking. Though, you can kill termites with vinegar as well. Mix solutions of vinegar with water or lemon juice. Then, spray the mixture on wood and into holes to get rid of small infestations. Do not forget the self precaution measures and use chemical-resistant gloves when mixing and applying. In addition, do not inhale the vinegar vapors.

Locate the termites

As a first step, inspect your home indoors and outside. Walk along the perimeter of your house. Try to locate the termites galleries, nests, mud-tubes on/ inside the walls, in the foundation and along the pipes. What should you look for? First, the evidence of the termite frass that resembles sawdust around deck railings, poles and wooden structures. Second, the presence of small holes (open or sealed with mud) on wood structure. Third, the activity of tiny black, brown or creamy bugs that look like ants. Fourth, piles of long wings near the wood constructtuction. These are all the signs of termite infestation in the area.

Treat the localized infestation to kill termites with vinegar

In practice, there are lots of natural methods how to exterminate wood-destroying pests. They are eco-friendly and easy-to-use on your own. Well, you can apply the vinegar to get rid of termites in four ways:

1. vinegar in its pure form
2. vinegar that is dissolved in water at 1:1 dilution rate
3. vinegar with lemon juice (5 oz of vinegar per the freshly squeezed juice of two lemons)
4. white vinegar with olive oil (1 part of vinegar per 4 parts of olive oil)

The second and third methods are effective to eliminate the termites that are currently visible. The vinegar solutions will keep other wood-consuming pests away from using the treated areas or mud-tubes as well. Spray on the corners of buildings and areas where the termites can feed on and make their way into home. The mixtures will easily soak through the holes and cracks and kill termites with vinegar and lemon juice. Lemon itself contains d-limonene that is a poison to wood pests. It kills the termites via destroying their digestive systems.

How to apply the vinegar against drywood and subterranean termites

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In fact, you can use glassed foods to treat spot subterranean and drywood termite infestations. To make a vinegar solution to get rid of termites, take one part of vinegar per one part of water. For example, for getting 4 gallons of mixture, pour 2 gallons of water into a bucket. Then add 2 gallons of vinegar. Mix up well and apply via spraying on the wood surface and via the holes into galleries and tubes. Moreover, white vinegar and olive oil (1:4 mixture) will protect your furniture from termite attack.

Spray the vinegar or its solution on the wood or directly on the dry wood termites in the infested area, inject it into the kick-outs and entrance holes. However, you can also drill holes in the infested wood and inject the vinegar through them.

If subterranean termites have broken into your home, inject the solution into the mud tunnels or burrows to kill termites with vinegar at the source. In fact, subterranean species in the USA do not build mounds, they have their nests underground outside the house. They make their way through the shelter tubes and burrows into home in search of wood.

In addition, the mixture of white vinegar and olive oil is a perfect furniture polish. Apply it with a soft fiber cloth. Thus, this protective layer will keep the termites away.

Retreat the area

Allow up to three days until the vinegar takes its full effect. It may take about two-four weeks to kill termites with vinegar, depending on how severe the termite infestation is. Moreover, some termite members could survive for some reason. Hence, you can retreat the infested zone and ensure that you eliminate the entire colony in this case.

I have several of my fathers old wooden handle tools which are full of woodworm,so i have immersed them all in brown vinegar and will leave them there for a couple of weeks to see what happens,i do possibly run the risk of the handles dropping off but least the wood worm should all be killed off.
Also Vinegar is brilliant to kill off weeds on patio,s just spray neat on the foliage and within two or three days the weed is dead at the root.
The cost is very low 80p for a bottle of brown vinegar that you put on your fish and chips and easily purchased from a supermarket.
It does make me wonder however how human consumption of vinegar does not seem to have any side effects other than good ones.